RIVER WARBLER. 
99 
from observation. The inside of the nest is cup-shaped, 
and neatly and solidly lined with small soft grass stems, 
without any mixture of other materials. The four eggs 
which Heckel found in one such nest, (Naumannia, p. 
IT, 1853,) have a conspicuous greyish white ground, 
with reddish brown spots, some light, others dark, and 
slight stains scattered over.” 
Brehm, in Badeker’s work upon European eggs, 
gives a still later account of its nidification, which I 
will quote entire, as everything about this bird is in- 
teresting to the naturalist: — 
‘Tt dwells, but not numerously, in the high-lying 
meadows of the Elbe, by Magdebourg and Breslau, 
and it is plentiful on the shores of the Don, the Bug, 
and many rivers in Gallicia. It lives in the woods and 
thick bushes on the banks of the rivers. It breeds, ac- 
cording to Count Wodyecki, in Gallicia, and to others 
in jMoldavia, not far from Prague, and on the Elbe. 
Herr Zelcbor shot a female with an egg just ready to 
lay, iMay 22nd., 185.2, and found the nest on the Don 
not far from Vienna. It builds in bushes which are 
thickly grown through with reed-grass and Parietaria 
officinalis. The nest is formed of dry reeds and grass 
leaves, tender twigs, strong grass stems, strips of reed, 
etc., interwoven with dry meadow grass. It is lined 
with soft grass. The eggs are four or five, which are 
greyish, inclining to reddish ground-colour, upon which 
are indistinct pale violet-grey and darker or lighter spots 
and streaks of reddish brown, thicker at the base. They 
are unequally shaped, gently declining from the base to 
the top.” 
The Biver AVarbler feeds on insects and flies. 
The male in breeding plumage has all the upper parts 
of the body olive green, shaded with brown; the throat 
